Use of New Audio-Only Telemedicine Claim Modifiers

Policymakers at both the state and federal levels face decisions about coverage of audio-only telemedicine amid a dearth of reliable data due to changes and variation in billing practices.

To describe early trends in the use of new audio-only telemedicine claims modifiers 93 and FQ in Washington State, which were introduced to improve the designation and identification of audio-only telemedicine claims.

This retrospective cohort study analyzed claims data from the Washington All-Payer Claims Database from January to November 2022. Participants included 4.3 million children and adults insured for at least 6 months in 2021 through public or private insurance plans.

Use of audio-only telemedicine was compared by age, race, ethnicity, insurance type, rurality, and Social Vulnerability Index.

Audio-only telemedicine services were identified by claims appended by Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code modifiers 93 or FQ or that included telephone-only CPT codes. Modifiers 93 and FQ denote audio-only telemedicine services for any reason and for behavioral health concerns, respectively.

In 2022, there were a total of 917 589 audio-only telemedicine services, of which 345 941 (38%) were appended with modifier FQ and 55 352 (6%) with modifier 93. Audio-only telemedicine services with these modifiers were most frequent for behavioral health diagnoses or routine prenatal and postpartum care. Individuals who used telemedicine exclusively via audio-only modality were more likely to be older (mean [SD] age, 46.0 [22.5] vs 42.0 [21.4] years) and insured by Medicare (41 758 of 196 225 [21%] vs 95 962 of 707 626 [14%]) than those who used at least 1 audiovisual service.

In this cohort study of a statewide all-payer claims database, modifiers 93 and FQ offered the important capability to identify audio-only telemedicine services beyond telephone-only CPT codes, but their uptake remained low. Audio-only telemedicine appears to offer an important means for access to behavioral health and perinatal care access, but further work is needed to study outcomes and quality of care.